Google My Business is one of the most underrated online marketing tools that has proven to benefit your business in many ways. So, if you haven’t set up a profile, you’re potentially missing out on a lot of local sales and opportunities.
So here are 10 benefits of having a Google My Business listing, including how you can how to use it to increase sales.
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business is a way for businesses to connect with local consumers with the growing need for a more digitally savvy directory. This platform helps to boost online marketing and consumer shopping culture.
A recent survey discovered that out of the companies who have set up their Google My Business profile, the average business receives 1,009 customer searches each month, with 84% of these coming from discovery searches, and the remaining 16% from direct.
10 Benefits…
1. It is FREE
One of the best features about Google My Business is that it’s free! All you have to do is click here to sign up and fill out your profile with all the required information. This may include contact numbers, a website, posts and pictures, location and more.
2. It makes you more visible
Google My Business is a tool that essentially puts your business on a global map. Google is one of the largest search engines in the world, and receives over 63,000 searches per second on any given day.
It’s worth knowing that about 90% of searchers haven’t made up their mind about a brand before starting their search. This means that your business must be visible for online searches to capture their attention and stand out from your competition.
Without setting up a Google My Business, your business will be missing the opportunity to be visible – regardless of how heavily you practice SEO techniques on your website. Any Google My Business listing will get priority on the first page of local Google searches.
Therefore, by setting up and completing your profile, you’ll immediately have increased your chances of being seen and found, without even building on your profile.
3. Ensure consistency
As your business grows and adapts, you want to be sure that you keep your customers informed and educated simultaneously.
The best way to keep your customers in the loop with the latest updates is by keeping your listing up to date. This includes information such as phone numbers, addresses, websites, and social media. So always remember, if you ever change location or start using a new number, update your profile so customers can effortlessly contact you.
4. A great first impression
Having this type of profile adds a digitally savvy touch to your online branding because it shows customers that you’re willing to stay updated and modern. Google My Business helps to captivate customers visually by uploading photos and videos of your store, products or services. You’ll be able to set expectations of what customers can expect from you.
We always recommend uploading at least 5-10 photos and videos. Not having any pictures on your Google listing is just like having no profile picture on social media. Add a photo to put a face or meaning to your brand.
5. Improves SEO
Your Google My Business listing can be one of your most powerful SEO tools. But you can’t just add a few contact details and expect that is enough. You need to constantly be optimising your profile to see the best results. You can do this by uploading regular posts and encouraging customers to leave reviews. Let’s talk more about Google reviews.
6. Google reviews
Google My Business allows customers to leave ratings, reviews, and images on your listing. It is essentially a more modern and customised version of Yelp. This is great tool to utilise because happy customers can share their experience with potential new customers. But it’s important to bear in mind that it’s also a platform that disgruntled customers can leave bad reviews.
To maintain good reviews, always monitor and respond to any reviews left on your profile. It’s important that each week, you set aside time to respond to reviews.
With an online profile, you can only go so far to convince your customers that you’re the right choice for them. People can only trust you from face value and what real customers have to say about their experiences with you. People are more willing to trust customers over your brand.
7. Gain customer insight
Get customer insight from your Google My Business listing and use it to improve your business. Google’s GMB insight focuses on how customers find your listing on search and maps, and what they do after they find you. This data includes information such as the actions customers take on your listing or how many views your listing has had.
8. Completes your Google Profile
Google has created the holy grail of digital marketing for businesses. Having a GMB profile helps you to complete your Google Profile generally. Your GMB profile is connected to Google Maps, Google Adwords, Google Analytics, Tag Manager, and so much more.
This means having access to these high powered tools allows you not only to rank and optimise your business, but helps to keep your business up to date with digital trends.
9. Official website for your business
We already mentioned SEO and customer reviews, but did you know that Google My Business also has a website creation feature?
Once you’ve created your Google My Business listing, your website auto-generates info from your profile, allowing you to customise the site yourself with text, photos, and design themes.
In order to do this however, you’ll need to purchase a domain and connect up your Google Analytics account.
10. Google My Business is the future of digital marketing
Google is constantly expanding and growing. It is always introducing new online features for consumers and businesses, both small and big, to increase sales and brand awareness.
Start tapping into the power of Google today by creating a Google My Business profile!
As a digital marketing agency, we can help to take care of your Google My Business profile and grow your company on this platform. To discuss this more, get in touch today.
